The effect on cost of medical care for patients treated with an automated clinical audit system

Abstract

An automated clinical medical record and audit system was developed to evaluate the effect of modifying physician behavior at the control points in the ambulatory care process and to determine if this change was reflected in patient care cost outcomes. This study compared clinical and cost results of patients in an experimental group, who had the automated record and audit system, to a control group, who had a traditional clinic record without chart audit. Physicians responded to the automated audit suggestions at a rate of 50.25 in the experimental group and 37.3 in the control group. No major differences were observed in clinical outcomes, with the exception of the number of days of hospitalizations and, consequently, the cost of hospitalizations. The experimental group cost for hospitalizations was one-third of the control group and accounted for a majority of the differences in the total annual cost for the two groups.